I had all these qualms when I was younger about society. A lot of don’t-listen-to-society-because-its-just-trying-to-force-you-to-be-someone-you’re-not, don’t-trust-the-system, just-the-MAN-bringing-you-down teenage angst flooding my thoughts. Now that I’m getting nearer to “true adulthood,” these questions arise again: graduate and getting straight into the work system for stability? be rebellious and marry young, or wait til that ripe age of 25? or not marry at all? rent an apartment like a normal 21 year old or risk it all to buy a home? or live in a trailer for 5 years? or travel the world?
AVOID ANOTHER BORING CYCLE OF LIFE!!… half my brain is screaming.
Now the other half… Only recently I’ve realized (which America, btw, tends to not remind us,) that we are a very important part of each other, of (YEAH I’M SAYING THE S WORD) our society. We are all amazingly interconnected. I talk about living my own life free to do whatever I want… I talk about freedom, but freedom to live whatever life I want to lead. But see, in order to “do whatever I want,” I need that travel agent to help me figure out the best places to go and where, I need my tour guides, I need the postal service men and women to send my postcards back home, I need the people who make the postcards and who make paper and who make ink. I need the grocer to supply me food to cook, the gas companies to give me heat to cook with. I need my landlord, I need the pilot, I need the policemen to protect me, and the laws to help me understand what to expect when I walk out my doors. I need the teachers to teach my children, the standardized exams to help our neighborhoods frame what is essential to know before you become a true member of society. In short, I need the system. I need every bit of the system….
I can only conclude that the system needs me, too.
And the rules and laws and societal expectations that I hated so much… (though many are still flawed) they are still all essential for creating this world and interacting and communicating with each other in a way that we can all understand. It’s not all about me and what I want… it’s also about the community; it’s also about this world. I’m a part of something bigger and I think I’m finally able to embrace that…
…to a degree, of course!
